Whales

Summary: In this case, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) approved the construction of Vineyard Wind, a wind power project off the coast of Massachusetts after consulting with the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”). A group of Nantucket residents, organized as "Nantucket Residents Against Turbines" (“Residents”), allege that the federal agencies violated the Endangered Species Act by concluding that the project's construction likely would not jeopardize the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted summary judgment for BOEM and NMFS. On appeal of summary judgment, the Residents further allege that BOEM violated the National Environmental Policy Act by relying on NMFS's flawed analysis. The court rejected the Residents' argument, finding that NMFS's biological opinion properly analyzed the current status and environmental baseline of the right whale. Further, the biological opinion properly analyzed the effects of the project (e.g., noise) on the right whale, along with mitigation measures, and did not ignore the project's additive effects on the right whale's long-term recovery prospects. Finally, BOEM's reliance on the biological opinion did not violate NEPA. The judgment of the district court was affirmed.

Summary: The cetacean law prohibits the killing, hunting, capturing, harassing, keeping, possessing, transporting, disembarking, preparing, or carrying out any transformation process, as well as the commercialization or storage of any species of cetacean that inhabits or crosses the maritime areas of national sovereignty and jurisdiction in Chile.

Summary: This law prohibits hunting or intentional capture of any of the cetacean species specified in the appendix. It establishes fines for those who violate this law of not less than 1 million Argentinian pesos ($1,000,000).

Summary: This law prohibits the hunting of cetaceans in the entire territory.

Summary: Plaintiff animal welfare organizations sued the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and its parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, seeking to enforce conditions in permits held by SeaWorld. The permits authorize the capture and display of orcas and require display facilities to transmit medical and necropsy data to the NMFS following the death of an animal displayed under the terms of a permit. In 1994, the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was amended such that it shifted authority to oversee conditions of marine mammals at exhibitors from NMFS to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). After three pre-1994 orcas died at SeaWorld, plaintiffs tried to convince NMFS that it still had the authority to enforce the pre-1994 rules related to release of records, but NMFS contended that its authority was extinguished in 1994. Plaintiffs brought suit, arguing that the NMFS's policy rests upon an arbitrary and capricious interpretation of the MMPA, and that its refusal to enforce the permit conditions was also arbitrary and capricious. The district court dismissed the plaintiffs’ suit for lack of standing. On appeal here, the court examined plaintiffs' standing under the three-part Lujan test. The court found a lack of redressability for the plaintiffs. Plaintiffs fail to allege any facts from which the court could infer the relief they seek would likely cause the NMFS to redress their alleged harms. In fact, because the MMPA language on permits is permissive, NMFS has discretion whether to enforce them. This is coupled with the fact that there is no evidence that third-party SeaWorld will turn over the reports even if NMFS were to direct them. Therefore, this court held that the district court did not err in determining that the plaintiffs lacked standing to pursue this case. Affirmed.

Summary: In 1997, the International Whaling Commission approved a quota for the Makah Indian Tribe to hunt four gray whales per year, culminating years of legal wrangling and political maneuvering by all of the concerned parties. Mr. Eichstaedt examines the history of the Makah whaling rights from the Tribe’s treaty with the United States in 1855 to the present-day battles with Congress and the IWC. This unfolding story pits a species of whale once on the brink of extinction, against Native Americans reasserting a centuries-old custom.

Summary: Ley 25.577/02 prohibits the hunting and intentional capture of any of the cetaceans listed in the appendant of the same law. The authority in charge of enforcing this law is the Secretariat of Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy of the Ministry of Social Development and Environment of the Nation, which will establish the measures to minimize the incidental capture of the cetaceans listed in the appendant. The authority also establishes exceptions to hunting and intentional capture when they have scientific or educational objectives, or when the purpose is the conservation of the species. Ley N° 25.052 regulates the hunting and intentional capture of the orca species.

Summary: Ley 25.052/98 prohibits the hunt or capture of orca whales (Orcinus orca) by nets or by the forced stranding system. The penalty for violating this law will result in fines starting from one million Argentine pesos, and up to two million pesos when the capture resulted in the death of the specimen. The Secretary of Natural Resources, through the Direction of Ictícolas and Acuícolas Resources, are the authorities in charge of the application of this law. The Naval Prefecture of Argentina is the authority that exercises police power, and federal justice will know of the complaints made by the enforcement authority, the police authority, or any citizen or non-governmental institution.

Summary: This law declares the southern right whale a natural monument within Argentine jurisdictional waters and subject to the rules established by Law No. 22.351, which regulates the concerning procedures for the declaration of national parks, natural monuments, and national reserves.

Summary: This law adopts the "International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling" signed in Washington D.C. on December 2, 1946 and the Protocol to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling signed in Washington D.C. on November 19, 1956. Colombia is one of the 89 countries that are part of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). This Commission is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to implement measures aiming for the conservation of whales and the regulation of whaling. Colombia joined this commission in 2011.